Take-up apparatus



Sept. 12, 1967 G. N. COOPER 3,341,143

TAKE'UP APPARATUS Filed March 22, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR GILBERT N. COOPER ATTORNEY Sept. '12, 1967 G. N. COOPER TAKE-UP APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Shee 2 Filed March 22, 1966 INVENTOR G I LBE RT N. GO OPER C1049; l7. W

AT TOR N E Y Sept. 12, 1967 G. N. COOPER I 3,341,148

TAKE'UP APPARATUS Filed March 22, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 IT "I" 84 I; 11:84 I l 82 82 64 641 H H I: H 44 M44 i H I I:

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86 INVENTOR F/6 -6' GILBERT N.COOPER MBW ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofi ice 3,341,148 TAKE-UP APPARATUS Gilbert N. Cooper, Elkins Park, Pa., assignor to Gayley Wycomhe Corporation, Wycombe, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Mar. 22, 1966, Ser. No. 536,425

8 Claims. (Cl. 242-755) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus to allow a fabric producing machine to operate continuously while the fabric take-up is operated intermittently toinspect the produced fabric. A compensating roll structure is located remotely from the fabric producing machine to accumulate produced fabric from the fabric producing machine while the take-up roll is stopped during inspection.

This invention relates generally to take-up apparatus for textile producing machines and more particularly to a novel take-up arrangement for a knitting machine.

Heretofore, it has been the practice in textile mills to wind the fabric knit on the knitting machine just as the fabric is discharged from the knitting machine. The knitting machine was usually provided with brackets for supporting a core and as the fabric was discharged from the knitting machine it was wrapped directly onto the core and, when the core was filled, the knitting machine was stopped while the roll of fabric was removed therefrom and a new core placed on the brackets. Because of the close proximity of the core to the knitting machine, and because of the limited space in the knitting room, it was a normal practice to wind about sixty yards of textile material or cloth on the core and then remove the roll of cloth to another area in the mill. By having to stop the knitting machine each time the full roll of cloth was removed from the knitting machine, production of the particular loom Was decreased.

Also, another disadvantage to the prior practice of winding the textile fabric directly onto a core .in the knitting machine was in the loss of a considerable amount of yardage of cloth from a particular knitting machine over a period of time. When delivering rolls of cloth to the manufacturer of end products, it was customary in the trade to allow at least a quarter of a yard tolerance in the length of yardage on the roll as customers maintained strict specifications as to length. In other words, in order to avoid rejection of a roll by a customer, sufficient extra yardage was always allowed for the length of the roll to compensate for any shrinkage of the cloth from additional textile finishing processes. By making the roll slightly longer than what is actually purchased by the customer, the mill could be assured that there would be no rejected delivery of rolls because of insufficient length according to a purchase order. Over a period of time, however, the tolerances allowed resulted in a considerable loss of material.

Another disadvantage in the prior handling of textile fabric being made on a knitting machine was that, by immediately rolling the fabric onto a core at the site of the knitting machine, there was not sufficient time to carefully inspect the fabric for manufacturing defects. Consequently, inspection of the fabric was made at another section of the mill after the roll of cloth had been transferred from the knitting machine, and when defects were discovered, it meant that all the fabric manufactured subsequently had to be carefully inspected to insure that If the flaw was in the operation of the knitting machine,

3,341,148 Patented Sept. 12, 1967 considerable length of fabric had to be rejected and remedial action taken to correct the flaw.

An important object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus for receiving textile fabric or cloth in open widths as it is being manufactured, the apparatus providing for a more efficient handling of the cloth.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for taking up the cloth fed from textile equipment and rolling the same on a core or spindle in open widths, the apparatus being arranged with respect to the source in such a manner as to permit complete inspection of the fabric as it is received thereby permitting the operator of the knitting machine to take prompt remedial action when manufacturing defects are detected.

Ancillary to the preceding object, it is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which reduces materially the amount of loss from a knitting machine when the knitting machine or its associated equipment is operating in a manner to cause the manufacturing defects.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for winding textile fabric or cloth in open widths upon a core or the like, the apparatus permitting the rolls of fabric to accumulate more yardage than heretofore handled in a mill. By having the apparatus positioned at a remote place from the knitting machine, the rolls of cloth made from the knitting machine can be 50-0 or more yards per roll as compared with the conventional rolls of 60 yards. This enables more efiicient handling of the textile fabric in the subsequent fabric treating operations as well as cutting down on'the losses from scraps of fabric allowed as tolerances on each individual roll of 60 yards.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a cloth take-up apparatus which operates to intermittently wind cloth on a core or the like from a source of constant delivery, thereby enabling easy inspection of the cloth prior to its winding on the roll.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for winding rolls of cloth on a core or the like, the apparatus being provided with means which insures the proper tracking of the cloth as it is being wound into large rolls.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for winding large rolls of cloth as it is delivered from textile equipment, the apparatus being economical to manufacture and operate and having a minimum of parts requiring a minimum of maintenance.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which is particularly suited to the winding of knit elastic fabric.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear more fully in the following specification, claims and drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic representation of a knitting machine equipped with the new and novel take-up apparatus;

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the take-up apparatus shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an elevation view looking into the discharge end of the take-up apparatus;

FIGURE 4 is a blown-up view of the compensating roll guiding mechanism;

FIGURE 5 is a partial cross-sectional view taken on line 5'5 of FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 6 is a schematic circuit diagram of the control circuit.

Looking now to the drawings and in particular to FIG- URE 1 the take-up apparatus is shown in conjunction with a knitting machine denoted by the reference numeral 10.

a The knitted fabric 12, preferably elastic knit fabric, from the knitting machine is taken up on the roll 14 which is driven through shaft 16, pulley 18, belt 20 and pulley 22 by the motor 24. It should be noted that drive for the take-up roll 14 is not a surface drive since in the preferred form of the invention it is desired to take up an elastic knit fabric which cannot be taken up by a surface drive. The take-up apparatus, generally designated 26, is located remote from the knitting machine 10 and is only connected thereto electrically and through the elastic knit fabric 12. From the knitting machine 10 the fabric 12 passes successively under the idler roll 28, inspection platform 30 and idler roll 32 over the idler roll 34, under the compensating or storage roll 36, over the idler roll 38, and under the idler roll 40 onto the storage roll 14.

As pointed out above, the take-up apparatus is separate and distinct from the knitting machine except for being connected electrically therewith and that the knit fabric is operably connected to the knitting machine and is taken up by the roll 14. In the preferred form of the invention the take-up apparatus is horizontally spaced from the knitting machine only a distance sufficient to place the inspection platform 30 therebetween so that the fabric between the idler rolls 32 and 34 can be visually inspected by the inspector. The inspection board 30 can be supported in any suitable manner such as on the platform 42 which is open on both sides to allow the fabric 12 to pass thereunder.

The take-up apparatus 26 is supported by four upstanding frame members 44 and 46 interconnected at the top by two plate members 48 and at the bottom by two base plates 50. The two plate members 48 each have secured thereto in any suitable manner such as screws 52, a pair of bearings 54 and 56 which rotatably support, respectively, idler rolls 34 and 38. The base plates 50 each have a similar bearing 58 to rotatably support the idler roll 32. A bracket 60 is secured to each frame support member 44 and has a bearing 62 connected thereto to rotatably support roll 40. Mounted on all of the frame members 44 and 46 is bearings 64 to rotatably support rollers 66 which aid in guiding the fabrics 10 away from the take-up apparatus so that it can be more readily inspected.

Extending outwardly from and connected to the frame members 44 is an angle iron support structure 68 to which bearings 70 are mounted to rotatably support the roll 14. A further structural support 72 is provided to support another bearing 74 which rotatably supports the shaft 16 interconnected to the drive motor 24 to provide positive drive to the storage roll 14.

On both sides of the take-up apparatus a pair of guide tracks 76 and 78 extend between and are connected to the top plate 48 and the base plate 50 to provide a guide for the vertically moving compensating roll 36. Secured to both of the guide tracks 76 is a rack member 78 which is engaged by a pinion gear 80 on each side of the compensating roll 36 to maintain the compensating roll 36 in perfect alignment to prevent improper tracking or canting of the roll due to differential tension across the face of the fabric. Suitably supported in the path of travel of the compensating roll are upper limit switches 82 and 84 and lower limit switches 86 and 88 for reasons hereinafter explained. The shaft 83 of compensating roll 36 is suitably supported on both ends by bearings 85 secured in bearing blocks 87 on the outside of tracks 76.

In normal operation the knitting machine operates continuously to supply knit fabric at a substantially constant speed. As the fabric is being supplied an operator or inspector will periodically open switch 90 (FIGURE 6) to stop the take-up drive motor 24 to inspect the fabric. When the take-up motor 24 is stopped and the knitting machine is operating continuously the compensating roll will move vertically downward due to the weight of the roll as cloth advances from the knitting machine. If the cloth should move down to the position where it contacts limit switch 86, the limit switch 86 will close and energize the take-up motor 24 to restart the take-up of cloth by the storage roll 14 causing the compensating roll to start upwardly due to the take-up of cloth by the storage roll 14. It is understood that the take-up of cloth by the storage roll 14 is greater than the production of the knitting machine 10. If for some reason, such as a malfunction of the limit switch 86, the compensating roll should continue to move downwardly the lower limit switch 88 will open when contacted by the compensating roll 14 to deenergize the knitting machine motor 92 and the take-up motor 24.

Conversely, if the take-up of fabric by the storage roll continues to exceed the production of the knitting machine 10 the compensating roll 36, when it moves adjacent the upper reaches of the guide tracks, will engage limit switch 82 and open the circuit to the take-up motor 24 to stop the take-up by the storage roll 14. Again, if limit switch 82 should malfunction and the compensating roll continues to rise vertically it will engage the upper limit switch 84 to deenergize the knitting machine motor 92 and the take-up motor 24 to stop the whole operation.

The herein disclosed improvement in take-up apparatus provides a system which will allow continuous production and take-up of a fabric on a much larger roll than was possible before and at the same time provides for inspection of the fabric while the fabric producer stays in operation. Furthermore, the herein disclosed improvement in which a compensator roll is employed to compensate for the inactivation of certain portions of the system while other portions of the system continue to operate. At the time the compensating roll control system is so designed to prevent damage to the system on the fabric upon the occurrence of certain happenings in the system which would have a deleterious effect on the fabric being pro duced.

Although I have described in detail the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is contemplated that many changes may be made without departing from the scope or spirit of my invention, and I desire to be limited only by the claims.

That which is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus for winding textile fabric in an open width onto a storage roll from a source of supply feeding the textile fabric at a normally constant speed comprising: a frame structure, a compensating roll, guide means on said frame structure receiving the ends of said compensating roll and allowing vertical movement of said compensating roll between upper and lower limits, a first idler roll carried by said frame structure above said compensating roll, a second idler roll carried by said frame structure beneath said first idler roll, said storage roll being rotatably supported horizontal from said second idler roll, a first drive means operating said source of supply, a second drive means driving said storage roll to cause said storage roll to take-up fabric faster than the speed at which the fabric is delivered from the source, a first upper switch means to deenergize said second drive means when said compensating roll moves up to a certain predetermined vertical position, a second lower switch means to energize said second drive means when said compensating roll moves to a predetermined low position in said guide means, means above and below said first and second switch means to deenergize said first drive means and said second drive means when said compensating roll moves vertically beyond said switch means, said source of textile fabric supply being spaced from said frame structure a predetermined distance, and floor means located between said source of textile fabric supply and said frame structure to allow an operator to inspect said fabric on said frame structure.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said textile fabric from said source of supply to said frame structure passes under said floor means.

3. The structure of claim 1 wherein said guide means includes a rack, said compensating roll having a pinion gear thereon engaging said rack to provide uniform movement of said compensating roll.

4. The structure of claim 1 wherein a fabric guide means is connected to said frame structure to guide said fabric away from said frame structure so that an operator standing on said inspection platform means can readily inspect said fabric.

5. The structure of claim 4 wherein said fabric guide means is a roller.

6. In an apparatus for winding textile fabric in an open width onto a storage roll from a source of supply feeding the textile fabric at a normally constant speed comprising: a frame structure, a compensating roll, guide means on said frame structure receiving the ends of said compensating roll and allowing vertical movement of said compensating roll between upper and lower limits, said guide means including at least two racks, said compensating roll having a pinion gear engaging each of said racks, a first idler roll carried by said frame structure above said compensating roll, a second idler roll carried by said frame structure beneath said first idler roll, said storage roll being rotatably supported horizontal from said second idler roll, a first drive means operating said source of supply, a second drive means driving said storage roll to cause said storage roll to take-up fabric faster than the speed at which the fabric is delivered from the source, a first upper switch means to deenergize said second drive means when said compensating roll moves up to a certain predetermined vertical position, a second lower switch means to energize said second drive means when said compensating roll moves to a predetermined low position in said guide means, said first and second switch means each including a pair of switches, one switch of each pair of switches being in operative relationship with one of said racks and the other switch of each pair of switches being in operative relationship with the other of said two racks, means above and below said first and second switch means to deenergize said first drive means and said second drive means when said compensating roll moves vertically beyond said switch means, said source of textile fabric supply being spaced from said frame structure a predetermined distance, and floor means located between said source of textile fabric supply and said frame structure to allow an operator to inspect said fabric on said frame structure.

7. The structure of claim 6 wherein a guide means is connected to said frame structure to guide said fabric away from said frame structure so that an operator standing on said inspection platform means can readily inspect Said fabric.

8. The structure of claim 7 wherein said means is a roller.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,968,636 7/1934 Dickhaut 242-755 2,603,428 7/1952 Newcombe 242- 2,760,734 8/ 1956 Hornberger 24275.5 2,961,216 11/1960 Blair 242-45 X FRANK J. COHEN, Primary Examiner. N. L. MINTZ, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN AN APPARATUS FOR WINDING TEXTILE FABRIC IN AN OPEN WIDTH ONTO A STORAGE ROLL FROM A SOURCE OF SUPPLY FEEDING THE TEXTILE FABRIC AT A NORMALLY CONSTANT SPEED COMPRISING: A FRAME STRUCTURE, A COMPENSATING ROLL, GUIDE MEANS ON SAID FRAME STRUCTURE RECEIVING THE ENDS OF SAID COMPENSATING ROLL AND ALLOWING VERTICAL MOVEMENT OF SAID COMPENSATING ROLL BETWEEN UPPER AND LOWER LIMITS, A FIRST IDLER ROLL CARRIER BY SAID FRAME STRUCTURE ABOVE SAID COMPENSATING ROLL, A SECOND IDLER ROLL CARRIED BY SAID FRAME STRUCTURE BENEATH SAID FIRST IDLE ROLL, SAID STORAGE ROLL BEING ROTATABLY SUPPORTED HORIZONTAL FROM SAID SECOND IDLER ROLL, A FIRST DRIVE MEANS OPERATING SAID SOURCE OF SUPPLY, A SECOND DRIVE MEANS DRIVING SAID STORAGE ROLL TO CAUSE SAID STORAGE ROLL TO TAKE-UP FABRIC FASTER THAN THE SPEED AT WHICH THE FABRIC IS DELIVERED FROM THE SOURCE, A FIRST UPPER SWITCH MEANS TO DEENERGIZE SAID SECOND DRIVE MEANS WHEN SAID COMPENSATING ROLL MOVES UP TO A CERTAIN PREDETERMINED VERTICAL POSITION, A SECOND LOWER SWITCH MEANS TO ENERGIZE SAID SECOND DRIVE MEANS WHEN SAID COMPENSATING ROLL MOVES TO A PREDETERMINED LOW POSITION IN SAID GUIDE MEANS, MEANS ABOVE AND BELOW SAID FIRST AND SECOND SWITCH MEANS DEENERGIZE SAID FIRST DRIVE MEANS AND SAID SECOND DRIVE MEANS WHEN SAID COMPENSATING ROLL MOVES VERTICALLY BEYOND SAID SWITCH MEANS, SAID SOURCE OF TEXTILE FABRIC SUPPLY BEING SPACED FROM SAID FRAME STRUCTURE A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE, AND FLOOR MEANS LOCATED BETWEEN SAID SOURCE TO TEXTILE FABRIC SUPPLY AND SAID FRAME STRUCTURE TO ALLOW AN OPERATOR TO INSPECT SAID FABRIC ON SAID FRAME STRUCTURE. 